Horde of Hel are a collective of elite musicians from the Swedish black / death metal scene who have chosen to remain anonymous, at least for the time being. This outfit has wisely opted to simply let their music speak for itself on their debut effort Blodskam which has recently been released by Moribund Records.
Blodskam is a violent collision of brutal, raw, straight ahead, layered riffs coupled with sinister industrial undertones. Opening with the evil sounding spoken word track, recited in their native tongue, is a great way to prep you for the unrelenting mayhem that ensures with the mid-tempo venom of "Leave Life Behind." While the instrumental track "Hail Chaos" is a perfect example of how well the band weaves their dark, ambient atmospherics into their compositions. Relying on just a brief, simple acoustic guitar passage, eerie synth washes, sampled dialogue and blasts of static, the track sounds like a ghostly transmission from the other side. Another intriguing instrumental track is "Blott Tvivel & Skam, which once again see's them painting an ominous, industrial landscape which includes a black, choir-like symphonic arrangement. All the vocals on Blodskam which are as equally as harsh and grating as the music are delivered in a mixture of English and Swedish.
All in all Blodskam is a pretty impressive disc from start to finish. Some of the tracks do sound kind of the same at times, and I would have personally preferred to see the drums balanced a little more evenly in this prominently layered, guitar heavy mix, but those are really just minor quibbles. If you're a fan of the blackened sounds of bands like Marduk and Dimmu Borgir then you're probably going to want to check out what Horde Of Hel bring to the table.
Track Listing
1) Motväm
2) Leave Life Behind
3) Born Again Into Submission
4) Hail Chaos
5) The Glory of Mass Murder
6) Dödens ära
7) Living Abomination
8) Visdomen Kallas döden
9) Domen Mot Människan
10) Blott Tvivel & Skam
11) Legacy Of Vengeance
12) Ashborn
13) March For War
14) Död, Naturens Val